People have reported "near death experiences", or NDE's, over centuries and across cultures. The nature of them has historically been the territory of religion and philosophy. But now science has staked its claim in the discussion. And the questions the research asks are profound: where is consciousness produced, in the brain, or somewhere else? Can consciousness continue to exist even after the heart and brain have stopped working?

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Handel's Messiah is possibly the most famous and popular piece of classical music of all time. Yet it's full of secrets and surprises -- it wasn't actually meant for Christmas and its words are largely drawn from the Old Testament, not the New. Ivars Taurins is the founding director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, and has conducted Messiah over 200 times. Robert Harris is a veteran CBC Radio producer. In nine movements, they reveal the hidden treasures of this celebrated piece. More
Mar 24, 8:00 AM ET readcomments

Past Episodes

He was a brilliant, eccentric, complicated man; a colonial policeman, a critic and journalist, a dishwasher, a fighter in the Spanish civil war, a teacher and a shopkeeper - and one of the most influential writers of our time. His name was Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell. Who was the man who gave us 'big brother', 'thoughtcrime', 'doublethink', whose name looms so large in this era of mass surveillance?

People have reported "near death experiences", or NDE's, over centuries and across cultures. The nature of them has historically been the territory of religion and philosophy. But now science has staked its claim in the discussion. And the questions the research asks are profound: where is consciousness produced, in the brain, or somewhere else? Can consciousness continue to exist even after the heart and brain have stopped working?

When Marina Nemat was 16 and living in Tehran, she was arrested at gunpoint and sentenced to life in Iran's most notorious prison, where she was repeatedly tortured and assaulted. She now lives just north of Toronto, and argues that the best way to combat evil in the world is through small acts of kindness. She delivered the 2016 International Issues Discussion series lecture at Ryerson University in Toronto.

There were two momentous anniversaries in 2016 involving giants of English-language literature -- authors whose work influenced not just the literature that followed in their wake, but the language itself. On this edition of The Enright Files, we mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and the 100th anniversary of James Joyce's great novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

It's tempting to think that in order to comprehend the future, we need to know the past, that there are always lessons in history. But is that true anymore? And has the future ever looked like the past? Sailing in the 21st century, perhaps we are in uncharted waters.

He was a brilliant, eccentric, complicated man; a colonial policeman, a critic and journalist, a dishwasher, a fighter in the Spanish civil war, a teacher and a shopkeeper - and one of the most influential writers of our time. His name was Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell. Who was the man who gave us 'big brother', 'thoughtcrime', 'doublethink', whose name looms so large in this era of mass surveillance?